NC food processing and manufacturing initiative feasiblity study released
The agricultural resources, industrial capacity and research innovation assets present in North Carolina create opportunities to catalyze development of value-added food processing and manufacturing businesses, according to a joint NC State-NCDA&CS economic feasibity study released Jan. 12.
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Saturday, August 22, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
N.C. Cooperative Extension is offering a hands-on canning class.
We will learn how to safely can using a pressure canner and a boiling water bath.
The class will be held at the Agriculture Conference Center, 252 Poplar Grove Road, Boone, NC 28607
Register by paying $10.00 in advance at the N.C. Cooperative Extension, 971 W. King Street, Boone, NC.

State Veterinarian Doug Meckes announced additional precautions that are being put in place to help North Carolina prepare for a possible introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is requiring all poultry owners, regardless of the number of birds, to register for an NCFarmID number, Meckes said. This will facilitate the department in alerting poultry owners about an outbreak, especially owners in close proximity to a positive farm. Poultry owners can also sign up for a national premises ID number, but it is not required. Anyone already part of the National Poultry Improvement Plan is exempt from this requirement. An online sign-up form will be available after August 1.
“In planning our response for highly pathogenic avian influenza, one problem we’ve come across is that we can’t protect birds that we don’t know exist,” Meckes said. “We need to know where poultry are located so we can properly protect commercial and backyard flocks."
Information gathered through NCFarmID registration is used solely for animal health purposes. This critical data will provide animal health officials with necessary contact information in case of an animal health concern and help identify animals and premises that may have been affected.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is also requiring any commercial poultry grower with 200 or more birds to submit a HPAI outbreak plan. A commercial grower would be any grower under contract with an integrated company.
“It’s very important that growers think through the worst-case scenario, because a confirmation of high-path avian flu would certainly be a worst-case scenario,” Meckes said. “We want each grower to consider their resources and location to determine how they can best handle an outbreak in a way that is environmentally sensitive and gets them back online as soon as is feasible.”
An HPAI Outbreak Plan template will be available on the department’s website after August 1. Growers will need to submit the plan to the Veterinary Division no later than September 15. While only commercial growers will be required to submit the plan, all flock owners are encouraged to plan ahead and consider how they would respond to a confirmed positive.
Last month, Meckes and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced that bird shows and sales would be halted from August 15 to January 15, 2016. The intent is to prevent birds from commingling and spreading the HPAI virus. Individual sales are still allowed to take place.
For more information about avian influenza and the department’s response plans, go to www.ncagr.gov/avianflu.

Plant sciences initiative could spark NC economic growth, study finds
A new economic study, released Jan. 12, shows that North Carolina has an opportunity to be the global hub for advanced plant sciences research and for the application of that research to expanding agricultural productivity.
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